Over 20 years ago, Walter Evans and his wife, Linda, were at Telfair Academy for an exhibition of 19th century African American Art from their own collection. At that point, he had been collecting art since the 1970s, a passion that stemmed from an addiction, as he calls it, of going to museums and taking in the art, and not seeing a lot of art by Black people there.
“There was an occasion, where there was a painting of a little girl, and we saw a young African American girl, probably between 7 and 12 years old, and she said ‘Mommy that looks just like me’,” Evans said. “And that just really did something to us, because at that point even 20 years ago it was rare that African Americans’ art was seen in a museum in this country.”
Even if they had a collection or possessed any Black art, they often wouldn’t display it, Evans said, even at Telfair years and years ago. The arts landscape in Savannah has changed to be more inclusive, and now part of that change is becoming permanent with a dedicated space for Black art in Telfair Academy…